Future, Present, Past
by retrinazambrano
Summary: One shots set in the The Longest Memory-verse. Happy to take prompts, should any come up!
1. The Story Of How We Met

The first of a few one shots to accompany _The Longest Memory_ \- this one is for OQ Prompt Party week! Thank you Lindsay for betaing this! :)

* * *

 **36\. Robin spills a drink on Regina**

Regina doesn't know what it is about post-quiz nights at the student bar, but whereas people remain stone cold sober and _competitive_ during the quiz itself, once the host has announced the winner and dispersed the money, a good percentage of the bar's population descends into drunkenness. Maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's because it's what's expected or maybe it's just because they're early first years, but they seem to give as good as it gets. Not that she's one to judge, as she likes to take part on occasion.

Tonight, though, following a rather nasty stomach bug, Regina really does not fancy alcohol in the slightest. The mere scent of wine turns her insides and so she asks Emma to keep the damn stuff out of her sight. The blonde hides her glass behind Daniel's open bottle of beer the best she can and Regina contemplates just going back to her dorm to sleep, but she's been holed up for so long that the thought of going back starts to send her stir crazy.

So she stays right where she is, enjoying the conversation between the three of them, announcing that she's hungry and that she's going to order a burger, slathered in BBQ sauce and cheese… and Emma cackles at the fact she's _just_ had a stomach illness, to which Regina simply retorts that she has missed her favourite dish. "Besides, it's National Burger Day, so… it would be rude not to, right?"

Emma nods furiously as Daniel raises his bottle in agreement and, taking their orders, she heads to the bar.

It doesn't normally take Regina long to be served - and it's not like she does anything special to get served quickly - but tonight is another story. The winning team are all congregated together, taking up a great deal of space, loudly celebrating their success by shoving their shot glasses in the air. Repeatedly. The brunette sighs inwardly, tapping her foot impatiently, glancing over at the rowdy group beside her.

She recognises one or two of them. "Little" John Grand, she knows, shares a class or two with him, even though he's not studying medicine but Biochemistry; grand by name and grand by nature, she's never really spoken to him, but she certainly hears him often. The other, however, has the most alluring ocean blue eyes and she has definitely seen him around. He seems pretty friendly, open perhaps. His name's Robin. Robin…

"Locksley!" Regina shouts, jumping back from the bar, her heather grey cotton top now stained a golden whisky colour. She stares, stares and stares and Regina Mills is not a materialistic woman, but this was expensive and she is _hangry_.

"Oh my - I am _so_ sorry, milady," Robin responds, grabbing the first napkin he can lay his hands on to pat at the stain, naturally just making it worse and she calls for him to stop.

"Just stop." Regina locks her fingers around his wrists and pushes them away. "It's… fine." She shakes her head, curls bouncing about her shoulders and just turns back to the bartender, who is finally paying attention to her.

"Well, what were you going to get?" Robin asks, setting his now-empty tumbler back on the bar.

Regina chews her lip a moment before: "a burger." She witnesses Robin's brows raise, disbelieving, but he then realises she's not joking. "What? A girl can't go out with her friends without a drink?"

"No, not at all," he responds, snagging a menu. "Let me guess, BBQ sauce. Lots and lots of it…"

It's Regina's turn to stare this time. "How did you-..?"

"You look like a girl with a good taste in food." Regina finally cracks a smile at that - it's something she cannot deny. "So, a burger. Anything to drink anyway?"

"Water, please, and before you make a comment on that, I've been unwell recently and I don't want to push it. Alright?"

Robin gives her a grin. He likes her already.

* * *

The duo end up at a table away from both sets of friends, Regina highly aware of Emma and Daniel's watchful eye on them both. Their love for burgers isn't the only thing they have in common, they discover - their interests are also pretty similar. He's such good company that, when a huge dollop of BBQ sauce misses her napkin and lands square over the whisky stain on her tee, she doesn't even care anymore. He offers to go get the shirt cleaned and Regina takes it as an opportunity to see him again, saying that it's _the least he could offer,_ with a smirk.

He's also thinking of how he can see her again, and when Robin tells Regina about his love of archery and how he's a county champion, she admits she's never tried it, so he instantly invites her to his favourite range for some lessons. She accepts, extending an invitation back to him, not only to the stables (she's a horse rider after all), but to a dorm party Daniel is throwing later that month.

He turns up to with August, whisky in one hand, Regina's perfectly dry-cleaned top in the other. It's something that makes her laugh as she steps aside to let him in; something that becomes an inside joke to them.

It's the start of a close, caring friendship between not only the group, but also between the pair, with an undercurrent of _something more_ that is skirted around for far too long.


	2. Slipping Through My Fingers

**For day 6 (Saturday) of OQ Happy Ending week. This is far off into the future for TLM, but a sort of deviation - this doesn't mean Robin & Regina end up together at the end of it ;) and I am actually halfway through writing the next chapter so watch this space... title comes from that ABBA song of the same name that always makes me a little teary..! Thanks, Lindsay, for the super quick beta, and enjoy!**

* * *

Robin turns over and hugs his wife to his chest. He can hear her hitching breaths, her sniffles — has been able to ever since he woke up. Regina turns and buries her head against his chest, expelling her tears against him.

"It's gonna be alright, love," he soothes, rubbing her waist gently as he rocks her. "He's gonna be just fine."

"I know," she sniffs. "But I'm his mother. I'm gonna miss him."

"Regina, he's only going to be a few hours away," Robin explains.

Henry's leaving home. Today, they're taking him to his new residence in New York. He's chosen against studying in Storybrooke, opting to spread his wings just that little bit further.

"That's still a good few hours' drive!"

Nothing he says will stop her feeling this way, so he simply holds her through the anguish. It's not to say he doesn't feel it too, he just knows his son has to make his own way in the world, just as he had.

* * *

Robin's tasked with carrying the heaviest boxes into Henry's dorm whilst Henry and Regina carry bags of clothing and the like. He'd said goodbye to Roland the previous evening, and acting ever the teenager, pretended to be blasé about the whole situation, but admitted to his father later that he'd miss his elder brother.

Once all the boxes and bags are unloaded from the car, the three stand awkwardly in the middle of Henry's empty room, Robin insisting that they let Henry do his thing, not to mention the fact that they have a long drive ahead of them, but Regina keeps fussing, suggesting places where he can store things, asking the same questions over and over.

"Mom, really, come on," Henry says, taking a book from Regina's hands, watching as they flop to her sides, defeated. "Let dad take you home, let me do this."

Robin nods in agreement. "You know where we are if you need us."

Henry nods. "Of course I do."

Robin steps forward and envelopes his son in a loving hug, one that he never wants to end and, if he wasn't feeling what Regina's feeling now as keenly, he certainly is now, sucking in a shaky breath. "I love you." Years back, he had no idea he'd had another son, older than Roland, and knowing he'd missed the first few years of his son's life, he put everything into being the best father he could be and, later, the best husband to Regina he could, despite what she had kept from him. Seems funny, but he wouldn't change a thing now.

"And I love you, dad." They pull apart, Robin pressing a kiss to his forehead. He moves back, placing his hand around his wife's shoulders as she gives them both a close-lipped smile, willing for her emotions to not get the better of her.

Except now of course, as much as she loathes to leave her baby, this means it's her turn to say goodbye and, really, what's the point in holding back? Regina steps forward, opening her arms and Henry goes willingly, burying his head in his mother's shoulder, just as Regina does, tears free falling down her cheeks. "I love you so much."

"I know mom, I love you too," he rasps, feeling his mother's fingers carding through his hair in her usual comforting way. He couldn't have a better mother. "Can you let me know when you get home please?"

Regina nods furiously, her heart tearing in two as she looks at her child, her whole life, her everything. "You'll always be my baby, Henry. I can't believe you're here. You're gonna be an amazing young man and I…" she sniffs, pulling herself together somewhat. "I'm so proud of you."

Henry runs his thumbs over his mother's cheeks, wiping the tears away. "I'll be just fine, mom. I promise. You've still got Roland to look after!"

Regina laughs in spite of herself, knowing that she's going to be just as bad when it comes to him. He may not be her son by blood, but he is in all other senses. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Me too," Henry replies, taking her hands. "Be safe, please."

That only serves as another punch to Regina's stomach. "And you be safe, sweetheart."

With one final round of hugs, they leave their son to start his new life.

* * *

"You okay?" Robin asks once they're on the freeway, reaching over to place his hand on Regina's thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Mmm," is her response, her eyes closed. "I will be…" is all she manages before she breaks down into tears.

Startled, Robin turns off at the next turning, parking up at the services and kills the engine. He doesn't say anything, simply gathers his wife up into his arms, letting her sob into his shoulder. He strokes her hair, pressing kisses into her hairline as her violent wracks slowly subside into gentle hitches.

She tilts her head to look up; her husband of three years, the man that she fell in love with all over again, the man who forgave her a terrible mistake… and he's looking back at her just as she does he. The same expression. The same adoration and it rushes through her, from her heart right through her body, sparking her nerve endings, her lips meeting his with a ferocity that she's only ever been able to summon with him.

Henry is only several hours away, making a life for herself and Regina can only hope he finds someone like she did. She's got Roland still growing up, needing her. Henry still needs her. Robin needs her. Hell, even Storybrooke General needs her. They all need one another.

She may not have felt her formative years were usual - wrong, even - but adulthood? Motherhood? She can take it on good odds that she did that right.


	3. Headstrong

**Final piece for OQ August Angst fest, day 3. Part of the TLM-verse. Thank yoooou to Lindsay and Lisa for ensuring everything was in the right place, lol. Also, no-one dies and there is an actual happy ending!**

 ** _Prompts used:_**

 _14\. Did you think I wouldn't find out?_

 _38\. Are we good parents?_

 _39\. Where the hell were you?_

* * *

"Henry, can you get me your bag, please?" Robin shouts from the bottom of the stairs at his sixteen-year-old son who casually shouts back that his bag is by the door. Muttering that he's not his butler, Robin picks up the offending item and opens the flap to get his lunchbox. His hand lands on a smaller box so he pulls it out, but once he has, he wishes he hadn't.

Condoms. His teenage son has condoms at the bottom of his bag. He stares at the box (but not before flipping it over to make sure they haven't passed their use by date) and knows what this means.

His son, his still-too-young _child_ is quite possibly having sex.

The thought of it, although sex is very much a natural thing, makes bile rise to his throat. He wasn't even aware Henry was seeing anyone, much less being physical with them. Henry's voice comes from the top of the stairs and, in a panic, Robin shoves the box back into the bag, pulling out the lunchbox just as he appears.

"What are you doing?" Henry asks suspiciously and Robin holds up the box.

"Just getting this to clean. You doing your homework?"

"Doing it now. Can I have my bag please?"

Robin hands his bag over and forces a smile. "I'll call you when dinner's ready."

* * *

Regina is going to absolutely flip out at Henry, he knows it for a fact. He'll talk to Henry, then go to Regina with it, he decides. That's the best way to do it.

* * *

Except it doesn't quite work that way. Henry drops his bag on the way into the house, Regina picks it up and the contents tumble out… including the condoms. The shouting starts on the driveway, which Robin hears from inside and he flings open the front door and makes down the path with a _what the hell is going on!?_

Regina attempts to explain, as does Henry, but he won't have any of it, not until they're inside the house. He's grateful that Roland's at a play date with Belle and Gideon right now.

"Now will you explain to me what's going on?" Robin looks between the two, Regina's angry face, and their son's equally as angry face, laced with an edge of betrayal.

" _Mom_ was going through my bag!" He whines, to which Regina vehemently shakes her head.

"Henry dropped his bag, I picked it up and _these_ fell out!" She passes Robin the same box he discovered the day before and he hears a _Mom!_ from Henry.

Robin stares at the box again before looking up at his son. "What's going on? Why do you have these?" He holds them up.

"Isn't it obvious?" Regina says, "he's having sex. He's underage and he's having sex!"

"What the hell?" More than anything, Henry's mortified, and he looks to his father for support.

"Is it true?" Robin asks in a calm, quiet voice and Henry's eyes widen.

He shrugs noncommittally. "That's none of your business."

"I think you'll find it is, Henry," Robin responds and Henry shakes his head.

"I can't believe you did this." He turns to Regina. "I'm never gonna forgive you." He grabs his bag - minus the condoms - and stomps off back down the path, out of the gate and out of sight. Regina goes to chase after him, but Robin stops him, knowing he's probably gone to his castle to calm down, so he guides her into the house.

"Regina, what the hell happened?" Robin throws the box onto the table and sits on the couch, waiting for answers.

"Just as I said," she responds, sitting beside him. "He dropped his bag."

"Could you have not mentioned the sex, though? That's a really private thing and you're his mother. I'm pretty sure that you're the last person he'd discuss that with."

"Exactly, I'm his mother!" She shrugs and Robin can't quite believe what he's hearing.

"You're his mother," he reiterates. "Henry acts like this but really he is still your son. He still needs nurturing and shouting at him over these," he holds the box up, "is not the best way to start."

Regina shakes her head. "But he shouldn't be having sex."

"No, and we don't have absolute proof he is. I mean, this is still sealed… but if he's thinking about it, at least he's thinking about being safe."

"You're right," she sighs. "I'll apologise when he comes home."

"I know you're worried, love," he pats her knee and gives it a little squeeze, "but the best thing right now is communication. Let me just make sure he's okay."

* * *

Robin drops Henry a text, just to ensure that he's safe and he replies sometime later that he is, he just needs some time to cool down. He goes to tell Regina so, but Henry makes it through the door first.

"Where the hell were you?" Regina asks in no uncertain terms and Robin can visibly see the frustration on Henry's face begin to reappear.

"Regina..." she says warningly, but Henry looks to her.

"I told you where I was," he tells her and Robin holds his phone up.

"I've just received the message. Regina, come on," he attempts to soothe, and her shoulders sag.

"Go to your room," Regina eventually says, the energy she had to resolve this situation completely dissipated. Wordlessly, Henry climbs the stairs.

* * *

Regina can't avoid _the talk_ forever. An hour later, with Robin's persuasion, she stands outside Henry's door.

"Henry, can I come in?" Regina speaks through his very closed bedroom door.

"No."

"Please? I'm sorry I shouted at you. Both times." There's silence, then the door opens slightly. Regina pushes the door open to find her son sitting on his bed, surrounded by papers. She pushes the door closed and sits on his desk chair, waiting for him to say something, but he doesn't. Instead, he continues to scribble in his notebook.

"Henry."

He drops his pencil and looks up at him. God, he really does have his father's eyes. "Mother."

"I want to talk to you about the condoms."

He groans, feeling awkward at his mother even _saying_ the word. "What about them?"

"I… look, I've been through this, I can answer…"

"My questions? No offence, Mom, but I don't think I'm gonna ask you… if I was going to ask anyone, it would be Dad."

"Can you just answer me? Are you having sex?"

Henry's mouth forms a straight line, feeling the blush creep up his neck before he shakes his head. Regina sighs with relief at that, but Henry is less than happy. "Even if I was… this is just really awkward, okay?"

"I know, and I'm sorry. Seeing you grow up before my eyes just feels so surreal."

"I know, sorry. I promise you though, I'm not having sex. I don't even have a girlfriend."

"What about Violet?" Regina asks and he notes how the teen looks down, the blush returning. She and Robin had met Violet and her parents at a school function and as the two seemed to get on well, Regina had wondered ever since.

"Violet's not my girlfriend," he reveals. "She's too good for me."

Regina won't stand for that sort of talk and, after clearing some of the pages on his bed, sits beside him on the mattress. "I won't hear you say that, okay? You have everything right there inside you. You're kind, clever, creative - what girl wouldn't want to be with you!" Regina's intensely proud of her son in all ways, and won't let him believe he's anything less than he is.

"I'm just… I don't know how to say to her that I like her!" Oh boy. Regina's not been a teen for quite some time, and _boys_ were hardly top of her list when it came to her mother's ideals for her, so she takes a moment to think. "Are you already friends?"

"Yeah," Henry tells her. "She's my best friend. I think she likes me too, but she's never gonna make the first move. She's traditional like that."

Regina chuckles at that; the girl's only sixteen. "You're incredibly blessed to have a friend like that," she tells her son. "Relax and let things happen naturally. Always respect what she says." Henry nods with that and Regina is sure he'll do just that. "And you know, if she does end up being your girlfriend…"

"You'll be the first to know."

After nudging him playfully, Regina stands and pulls him into a tight hug, something she feels she's not done in far too long. "I love you, Henry."

"And I love you, Mom. Relax, okay? Everything's fine. Better than fine."

Regina nods. "So why do you have these?" She holds the box up.

He shrugs. "I just thought it would be good to carry them around, should I ever need them."

"I should be glad you're being responsible, but please, please talk to your Dad or me first, alright?"

"Okay." Regina puts the box on the desk, sure that her son will make good decisions.

* * *

Regina returns to Robin some time later, who's sitting on the bed preparing to read his book. She sits at her mirror with a gentle _hey_ and starts to prepare herself for bed.

"Everything okay?" He asks and he goes over to her, placing his hands on her hips from behind her, kissing her cheek.

"Never better. We had a long talk." He takes in her scent and he swears his heart skips a beat.

"What about?" He asks and Regina tells him about Violet. Robin recalls the young girl who listened intently to Henry's stories and very much enjoyed his company.

"She's a nice girl." He replies as Regina twists her head and gives him a closed-mouth half-smile. "They'd be a great fit."

"I agree. I think that's the deepest conversation we've had in a long time." Regina twists in the chair and Robin kneels in front of her, grasping her hand. "He really is growing up."

"He is and the best thing we can do is be there for him. Did he say why he had them anyway?"

Robin kisses her knuckles and Regina nods. "Just in case."

Robin hasn't been that relieved in a long time. "Thank God." He looks at Regina with a grin. "Just wait 'til it's Roland's turn."


End file.
